Lost among the stories of human tragedy and heroism in Southeast Asia is the
damage last month's massive tsunami rained down on the manufacturing
industry, particularly on factories where low-quality goods are created on
the cheap for North American consumption.

According to the International Sweatshop Council (ISC) - the third world's
'discount factory' lobby - dozens of factories responsible for making
millions of dollars worth of consumer goods have been damaged or destroyed.

"It could cost hundreds of millions of dollars to rebuild," assessed ISC
director Nigel Hertshorn. "Oh and uh... some of the workers in said
factories might very well have perished too, I suppose. Our sincere
sympathies to their families. I almost forgot about them."

Bob Billyboy, a spokesperson for retail behemoth Walmart - a company which
relies heavily on third world labour for its deep discounted goods - said
several of their factories were hit hard by the tsunami. "Thank goodness
we've diversified and started using more suppliers from China. Otherwise we
might have had to raise prices."

Billyboy did however predict that the supply of cheap futon mattresses and
plus-size ladies activewear to the Southern United States "could be
interrupted" for the next couple of months.